By Robert Elias Najemy
You are sitting by a quietly flowing stream in the countryside.
It is spring and life is green and moist? Sitting on a rock, the
sights and sounds of the flowing water begin to work their
mysterious way into your nervous system.
Gradually, with the simple repetition of the water's song and
the harmonious beauty of the natural surroundings, the thousands
of electronic impulses of your brain begin to discharge into the
tension-absorbing air.
All of the concerns, problems and projects, which had filled
your mind to bursting capacity begin to disappear.
There is nothing to try to figure out now, nothing to decide.
The flowers silently console you with their perfect peace and
harmony.
The fresh air tingles in your lungs and your head becomes clear.
You feel somehow sedated, as if the forces of nature have
conspired to put you to sleep - to put you at ease.
The wind massages your body with caresses of coolness as the sun
unties your muscles with penetrating warmth.
There is nothing to do, nowhere to go and nothing to think of.
Just lie back and absorb the peaceful vibrations which flow into
every part of your being, whispering, «be at peace, relax my
friend, all is well now».
A delicious sleep falls upon you; not really sleep but a
half-conscious-half-sleep state, in which the trees, sounds and
breeze begin to come inside and mix with all of the thoughts and
feelings. It is as if the door of your mind has been opened and
all of those conversations, actions and perceptions lying
unresolved, floating at various depths in the sea of the mind
begin to float upwards and outwards.
Reality now is a mixture of the inner and outer.
The peace and security of being in the womb of nature allows us
to surrender to the sun, water and wind, while the earth-draws
out our stresses and frustrations.
We swim semiconsciously at the level where the conscious blends
into the unconscious.
We dance in our sea of consciousness, sometimes floating up to
the surface catching the sensation of the breeze, or the warmth
of the sun. Then we dive downward into a stream of upward
floating thoughts, images, sounds - all the dislodged refuse
from nervous stresses and unresolved problems.
We watch them as they float by and then dive deeper sensing by
now there is something at the bottom of the sea, which is
attractive to us.
Occasionally we get caught by an upward floating sensation of
worry, resentment, an image or an attachment, and before we know
it, we are at the surface again thinking, wondering, worrying,
being rocked by the waves of attachment.
But the dance goes on, we begin to sink again, for by now we see
that we cannot really dive because diving is too intense - there
is too much effort - we get hooked too easily on upward floating
garbage.
We instinctively learn the dance of the water, sinking,
watching, letting go, being carried on the vertical currents of
fresh water from the depths of our consciousness, like a seagull
with wings spread gliding the air currents flowing against it
without a movement, without an effort, letting the air do all
the work.
By this time, we are no longer concerned about where we are
going. The water becomes clearer, free of debris. We have gone
beyond the levels of stress release, past wreckage of old
memories, relationships, failures and traumas. We have danced
through the caverns of resentment and worry.
The water becomes very clean, very still, very peaceful.
We are coming to the source of our life current, the spring of
pure consciousness. Here we may encounter pure light or energy.
Only subtle vibrations exist here. Our bodies become recharged
with life. Our consciousness is renewed as we have cleared the
way for a burst of fresh energy to flow up purifying the sea of
consciousness, regenerating the mind, giving new life to every
cell of our brain.
If we do not become enamored by the sensation of light, by the
bliss of this energy which charges through our system, then we
may sink a little deeper into the vast nothingness from which
the spring of life flows.
Here there is not even energy; no body, no mind, no light, no
sound - absolute nothingness - total vacuum - only tremendous
potential unmanifest Divine Consciousness, from which all life
and material creation flows.
COMING BACK TO THE SURFACE
The sound of chirping birds greets you as you slowly float to
the surface. The branches dancing in the wind wave «hello». The
sounds of insects buzzing and water splashing salute you with a
«welcome back friend, you are part of us now».
It takes a while to remember where you are. You were only gone
20 minutes, but it seems you have been in this spot all your
life. The mind is clear, refreshed and in the present.
There is nothing to do but take off your clothes and go
swimming.
Have you ever been to this quiet stream in the countryside?
Most everyone has - either to a stream, river, mountain, sea, or
forest. And how well and rejuvenated we feel when we return.
Somehow everything is more alive, more harmonious.
It may not take long, however, to discharge all that energy and
clarity. Once again we become upset, nervous and bored.
Can we go to the stream every day? It certainly would be nice,
and life would be much less complicated. Of course for most of
us it is completely impractical in terms of time, money and
availability of such places - especially to those of us who live
in the city.
Well, Mother Nature has a secret for us. We don't have to go
anywhere at all. The stream of life, that place of peace and
source of strength, knowledge and harmony - lies right inside
every one of us.
What is meditation? It is nothing more than visiting this stream
on a daily basis. Simply it is the sinking dance into our sea of
consciousness, releasing the submerged stresses and coming to
the point of inner stillness where there is no object of
consciousness - but consciousness itself.
Done regularly, this inward dance leaves us fresh, more alert,
relaxed, creative, healthy, and more in tune with ourselves and
our environment.
The truth of these statements has been proved both subjectively
and objectively through experimentation. Studies have been made
on meditators and non-meditators over the years with respect to
blood pressure, pulse and reaction time as well as with states
of fulfillment and creativity expressed subjectively by the
participants.
Hundreds of thousands of people today in all walks of life are
finding that no matter what their goals, motivations,
responsibilities or problems may be, they are able to act more
clearly, more efficiently and more successfully with the aid of
regular meditation.
Ultimately, the only way to know if meditation will be useful
for you is to give it a try. To spend some time each day in the
«dance of the soul».
For more information on meditation visit Holisticonline meditation
infocenter.